In a tragic development in Covid-related fatalities that has raised serious concerns in Aligarh showed that as many as 34 professors of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have passed away to Covid or Covid-like symptoms in the last 18 days.

As per several reports, on April 20, the first death of a professor was recorded. All the deceased professors lived in different areas of Aligarh city.

In a letter to the director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), VC Tariq Mansoor said, 16 serving and 18 retired teachers besides other employees of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have succumbed to the infection in the past 18 days.

There is a possibility that "a particular variant may be circulating in areas around the AMU campus and surrounding localities, which has led to these deaths", he said, stressing the need for the study to control the spread of the virus, as reported by The Outlook.

The report further added that the microbiology laboratory at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Aligarh has been sending samples to the Institute of Genomic and Integrated Biology laboratory, New Delhi, for the genome sequencing.

Further, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Principal Shahid Ali Siddiqui said that 25 doctors at the hospital tested positive for the infection in the last two weeks.